Coil supporting means



June 23, 1949- E. F. LAPHAM, JR

COIL SUPPORTING MEANS Filed Feb. 12, 1945 INVENTOR. EDMUND f. LAPHMg-Jx,

Patented June 28, 1949 COIL SUPPORTING MEANS Edmund F. Lapham, Jr.,Norwell, Mass, assignor to Federal Telephone and Radio Corporation, NewYork, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application February 12, 1945,Serial No. 577,489

Claims. 1

This invention relates in general to means for mounting articles andmore particularly to means for detachably securing coils wound upontubing.

It is very often found necessary to change coils in radio and other likeinstruments. This chang ing of coils has always been a source ofannoyance, and at times has been found to be quite difficult. Therefore,it is very important that some form of fastening means be adapted thatnot only securely retains the coil on the frame of an assembly mounting,but which also facilitates replacement of the coil member whenever it isfound to be necessary.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide means whereby a coilmember can be easily and securely mounted upon a support.

Another object of this invention is to provide means for automaticallysecuring a coil member into a fixed position on a support uponengagement with a supporting frame.

One of the many features of this invention is the ease with which a coilmember may be detachably secured upon a supporting member and thenlooked to said supporting member.

Another feature of this invention is the positioning of the lockingmember relative to the coil and coil support so it can readily beremoved when a change of the coil is found necessary.

In carrying out one form of my invention I prefer to loosely positionthe coil member upon a supporting member keyed to a frame, temporarilyholding them together by means of a wire-like key member insertabletherethrough, and then looking them together by distorting the keymember by effecting a relative movement between the coil member and itssupporting member.

Further objects and features of this invention will become apparent uponconsidering the following description when read in connection with theaccompanying drawings; in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of my invention exploded to more clearlyshow its constituent p s;

Fig. 2 is an assembled plan View, partially broken away to more clearlyshow the co-operation of its parts before the coil supporting member isfinally drawn up to effect the locking condition;

Fig. 3 is an end elevational view of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a side elevational view of my invention after the coilsupporting member has been 2 completely drawn up and the locking of theparts has been effected.

Referring to the drawings, the coil l is preferably wound upon a tube orhollow cylinder 2. This tube is adapted to be positioned on the coilsupporting member 3, which member is in turn adapted to be secured to aframe 4, or other like member, by a threaded nut 5.

It is preferable to first loosely position the coil supporting member 3in the frame 4 before attaching the coil member I thereto. For thispurpose the supporting member 3 is provided with an extended portion 6of elongated shape which is placed into the opening or recess 1 of theframe, which opening is of approximately the same configuration as theextended portion 6 and serves to key the supporting member 3 to theframe thereby preventing any rotation thereof. To loosely secure thesupporting member 3 to the frame 4, the supporting member is furtherprovided with an externally threaded portion 8, extending coaxially fromthe firstmentioned extension 6, and to which the nut 5 is threadablyengaged.

Having thus loosely positioned the coil supporting member 3 on the frame4, the coil member I and its tubing 2 is then placed into position uponthe coil supporting member. The large disc-like portion of thesupporting member 3 has an external diameter slightly less than theinternal diameter of the tube 2 whereby the tube 2 telescopes thereupon.It will be understood, of course, that the member 3 may be otherwiseconstructed if desired. For example, the member 3 need not be arrangedto be received within the tube but the relation between these parts inthis respect may be reversed. The article to be supported may alsocomprise a shape other than a hollow tube.

To detachably secure the tube 2 to the supporting member 3, the tube 2is provided, adjacent one end thereof, with two pairs ofoppositelydisposed holes or openings 9, 9 and the disc-like portion ofthe supporting member is provided with a pair ofsubstantially parallellyspacedapart openings or grooves Ill, I0 substantially midway between itstwo faces. However, as the distance from the holes 9, 9 in the tubing 2to one end thereof is slightly greater than the distance from theopenings [0, ID in the disc-like portion to the same respective end, theholes 9, 9, when aligned with openings [0, l0, permit the end of thetubing to extend slightly beyond the one face of the supporting member3.

To hold the coil I in position on the supporting member I and the frame4, a securing key ll preferably.of resilient wire, is provided. Thissecuring key is preferably formed approximately U-shaped to provide apair of legs which are placed through the holes 9, 9 in the tubing 2 andthe openings l0, ID in the supporting member 3 to loosely hold thetubing 2 to the supporting member preparatory to the coil i being eitherdetachably secured into position or for its removal.

To loosely lock or secure the coil i into fixed position with respect tothe supporting member 3 and the frame 4, it is only necessary to rotatethe nut and thereby draw the supporting member toward one face of theframe 4 as clearly shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings. Further rotation ofthe nut 5 will move the supporting member 3 further toward the face ofthe frame 4- while the tubing is held against endwise movement byabutting the frame. This relative movement between the tube 2 and thesupporting member under the action of the threaded nut causes adisalignment of the holes 9, 8 and the openings l0, ID with the resultthat the securing key II will be distorted, thereby binding the tubingto the supporting member. This result is best seen in Fig. 4 of thedrawings.

If and when it is found necessary to remove the coil or change the coilfor another, the nut I is slightly loosened to realign the holes 9, 3and the openings i0, i0 thereby releasing the securing key i I so thatit can be withdrawn for the purpose mentioned above.

Should the coil admit of a tuning element, the supporting element 3 maybe provided with a coaxially located opening, which may be threaded ornot, depending upon the type of adjusting mechanism to be used for thetuning element. In the Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive, I have shown a tuningelement l2 fastened to one end of an externallythreaded rod l3, whichrod is threadably engaged in an internally threaded opening i4 locatedsubstantially coaxially in the supporting member 3.

While I have shown and described one embodiment of my invention, it isto be clearly understood that such illustration is made only by way ofexample and not as a limitation on the scope of the invention as setforth in the foregoing objects and accompanying claims.

I claim:

1. Means for securing a hollow, cylindrical member to a supportcomprising a frame having an opening therein smaller than thediameter-of said member, a supporting member, said cylin drical memberhaving openings in its periphery adjacent one end thereof, saidsupporting member having a portion in peripheral engagement with saidcylindrical member intermediate the ends thereof and having openings insaid portion in alignment with the openings in said cylindrical member,said supporting member having another portion adapted to extend throughthe opening in said frame, a resilient key member insertable through thealigned openings in said cylindrical member and said supporting memberand means adjustable longitudinally of said cylindrical member to securethe portion of said supporting member extending through the opening insaid frame for causing said cylindrical member to abut against saidframe whereby said key member is distorted.

2. Means for securing a hollow, cylindrical member as claimed in claim1, wherein the portion of said supporting member extending through theopening in said frame is threaded.

3. Means for securing a hollow, cylindrical member as claimed in claim1, wherein said cylindrical member has two pairs of oppositely disposedopenings in its periphery adjacent one end thereof and said supportingmember has openings therein for alignment with the openings in saidcylindrical member and said key member is U- shaped, the legs of whichare insertable through the aligned openings of said cylindrical memberand said supporting member.

4. Means for securing a hollow, cylindrical member as claimed in claim1, wherein a wire coil is wound about said cylindrical member.

5. A tunable coil mount comprising a wire coil wound about a hollowcylinder, a frame having an opening therein of smaller diameter thansaid cylinder,'a supporting member, said cylinder having two pairs ofoppositely disposed openings in its periphery adjacent one end thereof,said member having a portion in peripheral engagement within saidcylinder intermediate the ends thereof and having openings in saidportion in alignment with the openings in said cylinder, said memberhaving another portion adapted to extend through the opening in saidframe, the latter portion of said member bein threaded both coaxiallyand peripherally, a tuning element within said cylinder to cooperatewith said coil, said element being provided with a threaded adjustmentrod, said rod being adapted to be threadedly engaged with the co-axialthread in said member, said tuning element adapted to be movedlongitudinally of the axis of said cylinder, a resilient key memberinsertable through the aligned openings in said cylinder and saidsupporting member and means adjustable longitudinally of said cylinderto secure the portion of said supporting member extending through theopening in said frame for causing said cylinder to abut against saidframe whereby said key member is distorted.

EDMUND F. LAPHAM, JR.

REFERENCES CITED The following referenlces are of record in the file ofthis patent:

} UNITED STATES PATENTS Number

